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Father's
Day Short
Stories for Kids
Printable Children's Literature

Father's
Day Short
Stories

The Adventures of Pinocchio - Chapter
8

The Marionette, as soon as his hunger
was appeased,
started to grumble and cry that he wanted a new pair of
feet.

But Mastro Geppetto, in order to punish him for his
mischief, let him alone the whole morning. After dinner
he said to him:

"Why should I make your
feet over again? To see you
run away from home once more?"

"I promise you," answered
the Marionette, sobbing,
"that from now on I'll be good--"

"Boys always promise that
when they want something,"
said Geppetto.

"I promise to go to school
every day, to study, and to succeed--"

"Boys always sing that song
when they want their own will."

"But I am not like other
boys! I am better than all of
them and I always tell the truth. I promise you, Father,
that I'll learn a trade, and I'll be the comfort and staff
of
your old age."

Geppetto, though trying to look very stern, felt his eyes
fill with tears and his heart soften when he saw Pinocchio
so unhappy. He said no more, but taking his tools and two
pieces of wood, he set to work diligently.

In less than an hour the feet were finished, two slender,
nimble little feet, strong and quick, modeled as if by
an
artist's hands.

"Close your eyes and sleep!" Geppetto
then said to the Marionette.

Pinocchio closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep,
while Geppetto stuck on the two feet with a bit of glue
melted in an eggshell, doing his work so well that the
joint
could hardly be seen.

As soon as the Marionette felt his new feet, he gave one
leap from the table and started to skip and jump around,
as if he had lost his head from very joy.

"To show you how grateful
I am to you, Father, I'll go
to school now. But to go to school I need a suit of clothes."

Geppetto did not have a penny in his pocket, so he
made his son a little suit of flowered paper, a pair of
shoes
from the bark of a tree, and a tiny cap from a bit of dough.

Pinocchio ran to look at himself in a bowl of water, and
he felt so happy that he said proudly:

"Now I look like a gentleman."

"Truly," answered Geppetto. "But
remember that fine
clothes do not make the man unless they be neat and clean."

"Very true," answered Pinocchio, "but,
in order to go
to school, I still need something very important."

"What is it?"

"An A-B-C book."

"To be sure! But how shall
we get it?"

"That's easy. We'll go to
a bookstore and buy it."

"And the money?"

"I have none."

"Neither have I," said
the old man sadly.

Pinocchio, although a happy boy always, became sad
and downcast at these words. When poverty shows itself,
even mischievous boys understand what it means.

"What does it matter, after all?" cried
Geppetto all at
once, as he jumped up from his chair. Putting on his old
coat, full of darns and patches, he ran out of the house
without another word.

After a while he returned. In his hands he had the
A-B-C book for his son, but the old coat was gone. The
poor fellow was in his shirt sleeves and the day was cold.

"Where's your coat, Father?"

"I have sold it."

"Why did you sell your coat?"

"It was too warm."

Pinocchio understood the answer in a twinkling, and,
unable to restrain his tears, he jumped on his father's
neck
and kissed him over and over.

This story comes from The Adventures of Pinocchio, by
C. Collodi [Pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini]